Bulwark Takes - Gov. Cox Preaches Peace. Trump Demands Revenge

Episode Date: September 14, 2025

Two Republicans, two very different responses to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Spencer Cox called for unity and calm. Donald Trump doubled down on rage, declaring Democrats “sick” and elections “rigged.” Will Saletan shows why the difference matters.

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19 plus to wager, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connix Ontario at 1866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. But MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Hey, it's Will Salatan from The Bullwark. So by now, everybody knows that Charlie Kirk, conservative activist, was murdered in Utah on Wednesday. He was shot by a sniper, and everybody's pretty shocked, and there's been a lot of very angry reaction.

I want to show you two of those reactions, not a Democrat and a Republican, but two Republicans. Donald Trump and Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah. Here's Governor Cox speaking to the media. on Wednesday. We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States. So Cox named three recent assassinations or attempted assassinations. Trump, two legislators in Minnesota and the governor of Pennsylvania. Those targets in Minnesota and Pennsylvania were Democrats. Cox is

sending a message that what happened to Charlie Kirk is not just a left-wing problem. It's a problem of political violence on both sides. Now watch what Trump said on the same day about the same attack on Charlie Kirk. From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ice agents, to the vicious murder of a health care executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve, Scalise, and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives. So Trump's list of people who have been targeted is

himself, ICE agents, the CEO of United Health, and the Republican majority leader in the House, all committed by people on the left or aimed at people on the right. And Trump says the problem is specifically radical left violence. He's erasing all the attacks committed against people on the left or by people on the right. Governor Cox, a conservative Republican, does not erase those attacks. He says Maga Republicans, not just the radical left, need to reject violence, which he says is what Charlie Kirk taught him. And I desperately call on every American, Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us to please, please, please follow what Charlie taught me. So on Friday, Trump was on Fox and Friends.

and the interviewers tried to get him to say the same thing Governor Cox said, a message to people on the right as well as the left. Watch what happened. What do we do about our country with that? Because we have radicals on the right as well. We have radicals on the left. People have gotten or watching all of these videos and cheering. Some people are cheering that Charlie was killed.

How do we fix this country? How do we come back together? I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less. The radicals on the right, oftentimes are radical because they don't want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem, and they're vicious and they're horrible and they're politically savvy. That was a setup for Trump. That is Fox News, setting him up to tell everybody on the left and the right to chill out.

And he wouldn't say it. He defended the radical right, which, as Governor Cox pointed out, has killed or attempted to kill Democrats. But Trump ignored that, and he said, I couldn't care less. Back to Governor Cox, here's what he said on Sunday in an interview with ABC News. Every one of us has to make a decision. Are we going to hate our neighbor? Are we going to hate the other side?

Are we going to return violence with violence? Or are we going to find a different path? He again said, when you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence. That's a good message. Don't hate. Don't teach people to hate. What does Trump say about that?

Here's what he told Fox. Here's the problem. The Democrats have, they're sick. There's something wrong with them. They want to give away money to this and that and destroy the country. They're sick. They want to destroy the country. Exactly the kind of rhetoric the governor was warning against.

So how do we get out of this? this cycle of hate and violence. Here's the advice from Governor Cox. We can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point, we have to find an off-ramp. Had a friend in a small city in Utah who said, we're getting together. The Republicans and Democrats in my little town

are getting together to have a discussion tonight, last night, just to find a way to find their better angels. Again, sounds like a healthy message. Don't hate the other side. Get together. Talk. Find your better angels. But Trump has a totally different attitude.

Here's what he said on Thursday. What is your message to other conservative influencer, podcasters, TV hosts that they might be targeted by some of these radical groups? Well, we have to be brave in life. You know, in all fairness, we have a life and we have to be brave. I probably shouldn't be out here talking to you, in all fairness. But we will be brave. And we have a great country.

We have radical left lunatics out there. And we just have to beat the hell out of them. Beat the hell out of them. Wow. But Trump doesn't really mean violence, right? Surely he just means you should beat the left in elections, right? Let's see what he said about that on Fox. So is the message to the right, the people that are going to go,

I want revenge, not to have revenge? Charlie Kirk would not want revenge. You want revenge at the voter box? That's where to go. But unfortunately, we don't have so many ballot boxes because they have mail-in voting, which is totally rigged. Whoa. So Trump's message is, number one, you should seek revenge. And number two, you can't get revenge at the ballot box because the left rigs the elections.

That is exactly what Governor Cox was warning about. If you tell people that the other side is even, and you tell them that the other side can't be defeated through the political process, guess what some of them are going to do? They're going to resort to violence. Again, this is not a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Trump and Cox are both conservative Republicans. The difference between them is one guy is doing what he can to prevent more violence.

And the other guy is doing what he can. to encourage it. See you next time. Being active, playing with your kids, exploring the best trails, all these activities can lead to pain. Introducing Kalea 6X Extra Strength Pain Relief Cream. It temporarily relieves aches and pains

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